Remnants of civilization in the
greater Bengal region date back four thousand years,
when the region was settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman,
and Austro-Asiatic peoples. The exact origin of the word
"Bangla" or "Bengal" is unknown,
though it is believed to be derived from Bang,
the Dravidian-speaking tribe that settled in the area
around the year 1000 BC.
The kingdom of Gangaridai was
formed from at least the 7th century BC, which
later united with Bihar under the Magadha, Nanda,
Mauryan and Sunga Empires. Bengal was later part of the
Gupta Empire and Harsha Empire from the 3rd to the 6th
centuries CE. Following its collapse, a dynamic
Bengali named Shashanka founded an impressive
short-lived kingdom. Shashanka is considered the first
independent king in the history of Bangladesh.
After a period of anarchy, the
Buddhist Pala dynasty ruled the region for four hundred
years, followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena
dynasty. Islam was introduced to Bengal in the 12th
century by Arab Muslim merchants; Sufi missionaries and
subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam
throughout the region.
Bakhtiar Khilji, a Turkic
general, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and
conquered large parts of Bengal in the year 1204. The
region was ruled by dynasties of Sultans and land lords
Bhuiyan for the next few hundred years. By the 16th
century the Mughal Empire controlled Bengal and Dhaka
became an important provincial centre of Mughal
administration.
European traders arrived late
in the 15th century, and their influence grew until the
British East India Company gained control of Bengal
following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The bloody
rebellion of 1857 – known as the Sepoy Mutiny –
resulted in transfer of authority to the crown with a
British viceroy running the administration. During
colonial rule, famine racked the Indian subcontinent
many times, including the Great Bengal famine of 1943
that claimed 3 million lives.
20th
century
Between 1905 and 1911, an
abortive attempt was made to divide the province of
Bengal into two zones, with Dhaka being the capital of
the eastern zone. When India was partitioned in 1947,
Bengal was partitioned along religious lines (for the
majority Muslims), with the western part going to India
and the eastern part joining Pakistan as a province
called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan), with
its capital at Dhaka.
In 1950, land reform was
accomplished in East Bengal with the abolishment of the
feudal zamindari system. However, despite the economic
and demographic weight of the east, Pakistan's
government and military were largely dominated by the
upper classes from the west. The Bengali Language
Movement of 1952 was the first sign of friction between
the two wings of Pakistan.
Dissatisfaction with the
central government over economic and cultural issues
continued to rise through the next decade, during which
the Awami League emerged as the political voice of the
Bengali-speaking population. It agitated for autonomy in
the 1960s, and in 1966, its president Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman was jailed; he was released in 1969, after an
unprecedented popular uprising.
In 1970, a massive cyclone
devastated the coast of East Pakistan, killing up to
half a million people, and the central government
responded poorly. The Bengali population's anger was
compounded when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose Awami
League won a majority in Parliament in the 1970
elections, was blocked from taking office.
After staging compromise talks
with Mujib, President Yahya Khan arrested him on the
early hours of March 26, 1971, and launched Operation
Searchlight, a sustained military assault on East
Pakistan. Yahya's methods were extremely bloody, and the
violence of the war resulted in many civilian deaths .
Chief targets included intellectuals and Hindus, and
about ten million refugees fled to neighbouring India.
Estimates of those massacred throughout the war range
from three hundred thousand to 3 million.
Before his arrest by the
Pakistan Army, Sk. Mujibur Rahman formally declared the
independence of Bangladesh and directed everyone to
fight till the last soldier of the Pakistan army was
evicted from East Pakistan. Awami League leaders set up
a government-in-exile in Calcutta, India. The exile
government formally took oath at Mujib Nagar in Kustia
district of East Pakistan on April 17, 1971 with
Tajuddin Ahmad as the first Prime Minister.
The Bangladesh Liberation War
lasted for nine months. The Bangladesh Forces formed
within 11 sectors led by General M.A.G. Osmani
consisting of Bengali Regulars and Mukti Bahini
conducted a massive guerilla war against the Pakistan
Forces with all out support from the Indian Armed
Forces. Jointly the Mitro Bahini achieved a decisive
victory over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, with Indian
Armed Forces taking over 90,000 prisoners of war.
Jatiyo Smriti
Soudho, a tribute to the martyrs of the Bangladesh
Liberation War
After its
independence, Bangladesh became a parliamentary
democracy, with Mujib as the Prime Minister. In the 1973
parliamentary elections, the Awami League gained an
absolute majority. A nationwide famine occurred during
1973 and 1974, and in early 1975, Mujib initiated a
one-party socialist rule with his newly formed BAKSAL.
On August 15, 1975, Mujib with most of his family
members were assassinated by mid-level military
officers.
A series of bloody coups and
counter-coups in the following three months culminated
in the ascent to power of General Ziaur Rahman, who
reinstated multi-party politics & founded the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Zia's rule ended
when he was assassinated in 1981 by elements of the
military. Bangladesh's next major ruler was General
Hossain Mohammad Ershad, who gained power in a bloodless
coup in 1982 and ruled until 1990, when he was forced to
resign after a massive revolt of all major political
parties and the public, joined with pressure from
western donors (which was a major shift in international
policy after the end of communism).
Since then, Bangladesh has
reverted to a parliamentary democracy. Zia's widow,
Khaleda Zia, led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to
parliamentary victory at the general election in 1991
and became the first female Prime Minister in
Bangladesh's history. However, the Awami League, headed
by Sheikh Hasina, one of Mujib's surviving daughters,
clinched power at the next election in 1996 but lost to
the Bangladesh Nationalist Party again in 2001.
On January 11, 2007, following
widespread political unrest, a caretaker government was
appointed to administer the next general election. The
country had suffered from extensive corruption, disorder
and political violence. The new caretaker government has
made it a priority to root out corruption from all
levels of government. To this end, many notable
politicians and officials, along with large numbers of
lesser officials and party members, have been arrested
on corruption charges. The caretaker government held a
fair and free election on December 29, 2008.
Awami League's Sheikh Hasina won the
elections with a landslide victory and took oath of
Prime Minister on January 6, 2009.
